Why Is It That "Survivalists" Are So Easy To Make Fun Of?

Crisis preparedness is about life and death.

It's about being equipped to get through the biggest challenges a person can be called upon to fight through.

Best case, preparedness delivers a personal sense of well-being. That comfort arises out of a readiness to deal with whatever life throws at you.

Really, there's nothing funny about preparedness.


But it's so easy to laugh at us

Two words--"Burt Gummer." (Or is that one name?)

Actor Michael Gross created what is probably THE classic stereotype survivalist in the 1990 "Tremors" movie (and capitalized upon in three follow-up portrayals in Tremors II, III, and IV, not to mention a TV series of the same name). Funny movies ... and of course most of us just plain love the Gummer character--especially in the first film in the series.

1. Why was the Gummer character a hit?
2. Why do "normal" folks chuckle and roll their eyes when the term "survivalist" comes up?

Two different questions, one answer: Because there are really people among us who live for disaster.

Do I intend to beef again about balance in one's life? I don't think so. Suffice it to say, being ready for life is not the point of life.

What I do want to mention here is that, just as it is easy to go overboard on the whole prepping lifestyle, it is also easy to get overly focused on one disaster scenario that you prepare for.

Two up-close and personal scenarios that get some of "us" really juiced up--

a. All-out nuclear war
b. Total societal breakdown (brought on by say, economic collapse, pandemic, peak oil, or civil war, etc.)

Pick your poison.

Of course, this is the stuff of situation comedies. Overspecialization can never be good. Train the telescope on one tree and the rest of the forest may burn down around you.

Those who are seriously into preparedness ... in other words, those who understand that major crises come in all shapes and forms ... do NOT zero in on all-out nuclear war as being THE threat that drives them.

Why? Numbers. More specifically--odds.

Disaster happens all the time. Just about every month, year in and year out, large numbers of people somewhere in the world are victimized by disaster and a subsequent inability to take even small steps toward recovery.

But how often does thermo-nuclear war erupt? Or how often do Western nations collapse?

Sure--the possibility for either one or both catastrophes exists, but true crisis preparedness is a far sight more comprehensive than embracing the caricature role of Burt Gummer.

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